Nuns pleased with new con­tra­cep­tion rule

Lawyers for Catholic nuns who chal­lenged the Obama-era “con­tra­cep­tion man­date” cheered the Trump ad­min­is­tra­tion’s ex­panded carve-out Thurs­day, say­ing they hoped the fi­nal rules would end “a long and un­nec­es­sary cul­ture war fight.”

“This should be the end of the story. I sus­pect it won’t be the end of the story,” said Mark Rienzi, pres­i­dent of Becket, a non­profit law firm rep­re­sent­ing the Lit­tle Sis­ters of the Poor, a char­ity that be­came the face of law­suits against Pres­i­dent Obama’s con­tra­cep­tion man­date.

The lat­est rules, is­sued late Wed­nes­day, al­low closely held busi­nesses and re­li­gious char­i­ties and uni­ver­si­ties em­ploy­ers to refuse to in­sure birth con­trol by claim­ing “sin­cerely held re­li­gious be­liefs” or a moral ob­jec­tion.

Ob­jec­tors would not have to com­plete an optout form — an Obama re­quire­ment that led to lit­i­ga­tion and a 4-4 dead­lock at the Supreme Court.